Maddeningly Calm
by Scordatura
Summary: "Don't put your trust in that fool. For you, it may be difficult to accept, but he won't come for you. I know him quite well, and he won't give himself up for such a trivial thing."


A/N: I posted this story once before and then took it down again for a little while, so sorry to anyone who may have read it or was wanting to read it. Anyway, it's back for Thanksgiving, even though it really has nothing to do with Thanksgiving...

I wasn't too sure whether to rate it K+ or T, so I put T just to be on the safe side.

**Maddeningly Calm**

-/-\-|-/-\-

The ancient, flickering light bulb hanging from the ceiling by a thin chain swung eerily back and forth, making the shadows shift on his victim's face. It was the only source of light in the room, besides the thin strip peeking out from under the presumable door a few feet away.

Wrapping his fingers around the dark chain and tugging it once more, Mello nodded, satisfied his prisoner would not escape. Stepping back, the blond crossed his arms, looking over the helpless victim, chained mercilessly to a rotting chair. Then he began to pace, back and forth between his silent captive.

"Normally, I'm not the one to do the interrogating," Mello began, taking a corner off the chocolate bar he had in his hand. "I usually let the ones below me have that job, however," He leaned in close to the subject of his interrogation, "this is a personal matter, so I'll deal with you myself."

His victim watched him with dark eyes, not saying a word, and Mello curled his lip at how cool and collected his hostage was. He quickly collected himself, remembering it was only the beginning of the interrogation. He'd make them talk…

"You shouldn't leave your guard down," Mello continued, taking a step back and sinking his teeth into the choclate snack again. "You were completely defenseless. Anyone could have captured you." His left eye widened demonically and he sneered. "You were unlucky enough to be taken by someone who has a deep hatred for your boss. You should've known I'd be coming for you."

Just as before, the prisoner was silent.

Mello released a long sigh, running his tongue along the side of the chocolate bar thoughtfully. "I wonder if I could sit here talking all day. You have nerves of steel, I'll give you that but sooner or later you'll break. It's only debatable if your boss will come to rescue you or not. So, should I tear you apart limb from limb and leave your broken body here for him to find, or should I do the same thing except bring you to him myself?"

The eyes of his captive were glossy, so Mello only assumed they were thinking it over, wondering wether or not to put their trust in their leader.

"That's not the way to think," the blond interrupted, crossing his arms over his black, leather jacket. "Don't put your trust in that fool. For you, it may be difficult to accept, but he won't come for you. I know him quite well, and he won't give himself up for such a trivial thing."

He met the eyes of his victim, watching for any sign of fear, but as before, they remained still. _So freakin' relaxed! _Mello hissed to himself, grabbing the head of his captive and snapping it back so he was looking down into their round eyes. "You may not crack while I speak to you, but I have other methods that can tear you apart."

Mello loosened his grip on his hostage's head, stepping into the darkness of the room, out of sight from the chained figure being interrogated. When he returned, his fingers clenched around something long and metallic, he saw his victim's head remained bent back, watching the ceiling tiredly.

"You will not rest," Mello snapped, hitting the exhausted body and bringing its head upright again. He slowly crouched down in front of the expressionless figure, whispering, "I will rip you apart piece by piece as slowly and as agonizingly as possible. I will prove to you your leader doesn't care whether or not you're in my hands. I'll make sure his impassive face is the last thing you see." Very slowly, he withdrew the weapon he'd fetched from the darkness of the room. The flat end of the blade glinted menacingly as he gently brought it to his victim's throat. "I won't kill you right away," he assured the hostage. "I'll grant you just enough life to see your boss's expressionless face."

Bringing back his instrument of torture, Mello eyed a small joint in his captive's elbow and grinned. Carefully, he raised the weapon above his head, allowing it to catch the light and reflect in his prisoner's eyes before he swiftly sent it downward—

—and faltered, dropping the blade as he was suddenly doused in light from all around. As the tool clattered to the floorboards below his bare feet, Mello whipped around in shock, eyes wide with horror as a small figure appeared in the doorway, eyes blank.

"Mello?"

The blond child flinched at the voice lacking any emotion at all. Without rising from his crouched position, Mello only stared in alarm at the boy in the now open doorway of the room.

The person raised a finger to the side of his head, wrapping a curl of white hair around it before saying, "Everyone's downstairs having chocolate cake." Then, very slowly, he tilted his head to the side and inquired, "Is that one of my robots?"

Mello's eyes flicked back to his chained up victim before eyeing the screw driver he'd dropped on the floor and then looked back at Near again, his face heating up a few degrees as he tightened his hands into fists.

"If you wanted to play with one of my robots, I might have let you if you'd just asked."

Mello ground his teeth together, nostrils flaring as he stared incredulously at the younger boy.

Near ignored the older boy's look of absolute hatred and turned to leave Mello's room, his bare feet brushing softly against the floorboards. "Remember to put it back where you found it, please," he murmured tiredly before disappearing from sight.

Mello took a savage bite out of his choclate bar, breaking off half and impatiently stuffing it into his mouth. Turning, he fixed Near's robot with an evil eye and growled, "He's just like you. So maddeningly calm!"

-/-\-|-/-\-

A/N: Yay! My first Death Note fic! Review or favorite or whatever you want. Thanks for reading. ^^


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